16. Leadership

According to Stoner, managerial leadership is the process of directing the work activities of group members and influencing them. We must consider the following aspects: characteristics, behaviors and contingencies (situations in which leaders act).

Likewise, we have the following implications for leadership:

1. Involve people.

2. The leader has more power than the members of the group.

3. Consider the ability to use different forms of power to influence the behavior of followers.

4. Leadership is a matter of values. Ethics is also considered.

According to Warren Bennis, a person may be an effective manager--a good planner and fair and organized administrator--but lacks the leader's abilities to motivate. Other people may be effective leaders—with the ability to produce enthusiasm and devotion—but lack the management skills to channel the energy produces by others.

On the other hand, leaders, as a group, have been found to be smarter, more outgoing, and more self-confident than non-leaders. The question arises about Is the leader born or made? We particularly think that the two aspects are complementary and it depends on each situation of the individual, to analyze the performances of the variable of how he was born (genetics) and the variable of how he grew up (environmental impacts on him), finally, how have mixed these two variables throughout their lives.

There are a series of analyzes or proposals about leadership styles, such as the administrative grid, which tells us about people's interest and interest in production and how these variables are mixed.

Finally, we think that the motivation, influence and positive impact that the leader has on people is of vital importance for the achievement of organizational objectives and for the alignment of the hierarchical structure of the company with the mission, vision and values.

MARCH 2023